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Missouri House panel OKs cooling-off period for lawmakers

JEFFERSON CITY — A bill that would make lawmakers take a timeout before becoming a registered lobbyist cleared an initial hurdle Monday, which is a good first step for ethics reform in Missouri, said Rep. Jeffrey Messenger, R-Republic.

Missouri House panel OKs cooling-off period for lawmakers

JEFFERSON CITY — A bill that would make lawmakers take a timeout before becoming a registered lobbyist cleared an initial hurdle Monday, which is a good first step for ethics reform in Missouri, said Rep. Jeffrey Messenger, R-Republic.

A House committee voted 7-1 in favor of a bill that would require officials to wait one legislative session before becoming lobbyists.

"We need to start somewhere. This is a beginning" of a push for ethics reform, said Messenger, R-Republic, who voted in favor of the measure as a member of the House Government Oversight and Accountability.

Lawmakers and other elected officials now can immediately become lobbyists after leaving office. The bill was among several passed by the committee and is one of the first to move forward in the 2016 legislative session.

Not everyone was happy with the bill. Rep. Gina Mitten, D-St. Louis, said a better proposal would be to make lawmakers wait a full calendar year, not just a legislative session.

The bill's sponsor, Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, and the committee Chair, Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, argued a session long cooling off period is more or less the same as year-long delay.

Barnes stressed that the House was moving very early in the legislative session to pass ethics reform measures.

Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson has said ethics is a priority this session. The push follows the resignations in 2015 of two former lawmakers accused of inappropriate behavior toward interns.

The legislation now heads to the full House. It could come up for a full House vote this week.